Park to double hours, thanks to volunteers

STOCKTON - After a 2008 fire, Woodbridge Wilderness Area remained closed until May, when a group of volunteers started working with officials to keep it open to the general public one weekend a month.

Zachary K. Johnson

STOCKTON - After a 2008 fire, Woodbridge Wilderness Area remained closed until May, when a group of volunteers started working with officials to keep it open to the general public one weekend a month.

On Tuesday, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors took a look at the results and voted to double the number of days the park will remain open to the public and opened the door to the possibility of group tours for local schoolchildren.

The volunteers who had checked visitors at the gate and cleared underbrush said they were pleased with the vote, but they looked forward to a time the county could afford to bring in paid staff and open the area even more days.

But where the wilderness ends, homes begin, and neighbors of the park said they feared for their safety because of a lack of supervision of the park and the volunteers.

After the fire closed the park, county officials looked at different methods that could reopen the park while addressing the fire danger posed to nearby residents.

"The model that we have with the volunteers appears to be a model that has worked," said Supervisor Ken Vogel, whose district includes the Woodbridge area.

According to county staff, Woodbridge Fire Chief Steve Butler sent a letter to the county saying the work done by the volunteers to remove noxious weeds and build a trail has helped control the fire danger.

The 2008 fire was not small. It burned more than half of the 17-acre wilderness area and damaged surrounding homes.

"If none of you have lived through a fire, let me tell you, it's horrifying," said Ray Cuenca, one of the neighbors at Tuesday's board meeting.

The residents around the wilderness area do not oppose keeping it open, said Christian Phillips, another neighbor. "It will be fine as long as it is professionally supervised."

Over six months, 119 volunteers put in a total of 441 hours of time performing maintenance, greeting visitors and taking down names at the park entrance, according to the county.

Relying on volunteers to keep the wilderness open should be a temporary solution, said Mary Fuhs, one of the volunteers who addressed the supervisors. "When you have the money in the future, this park deserves a staff," she said. "We really have a responsibility as a county to keep it open to the public."

Located along the Mokulumne River, the wilderness is something special right next door, volunteer Joshua Hutchison said. "It's just so close to the suburban areas we all live in, but it's just so different," he said. "It's an amazing park."

Tuesday's vote will open the wilderness to the public on the first and third weekends of the month, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.